1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the distribution of media content. More particularly, the present invention relates to the distribution of media content in multiple formats.
2. Background Art
The providers of media content must cater to the interests of at least two sets of constituents. On one hand, media content providers must be responsive to consumer demands for media content in a desirable format. On the other, media content providers must also be sensitive to the concerns of the producers of that content, so that the intellectual property rights associated with their creative works are protected.
In the past, the interests of both media content consumers and media content producers may have been largely aligned, albeit perhaps unintentionally, by the limited formatting options available to support a particular type of media content. Taking entertainment content in the form of a movie as an example, as recently as 1990, the standard format for commercially available movies was analog video home system (VHS), suitable for playback on a video cassette recorder (VCR). Accordingly, in that earlier content distribution environment, consumer demand for commercial entertainment content was apt to focus on a single content format, e.g. VHS video cassettes in the case of movies, so that exercise of intellectual property control over that single format was tantamount to controlling domestic distribution of the entertainment content as a whole. Even where alternative formats were available, as in audio tape versus vinyl recordings of music content, for example, the very distinctness of the physical media embodying the alternative formats facilitated control over distribution of the media content.
More recently, however, format and technology options for the display of entertainment content have multiplied. In addition, a transition from an analog to a digital content world has occurred, in which multiple alternative formats can now be supported on the same type of physical medium. Consumers have responded to the proliferation of available media content formats by ratcheting up their expectations for the variety of presentation modes to be provided as well. Many consumers now desire to obtain access to media content providing a variety of entertainment experiences sharing a central theme, and may expect to be provided with not only a movie, but a music soundtrack for that movie, a video game based on a characters and events of the movie, and other alternative presentation modes, available across multiple media devices, sharing the movie theme.
Due to the greater variety of available content formats and presentation modes, and the heightened expectations of content consumers, the acquisitive interests of consumers are increasingly in conflict with the proprietary interests of content producers, resulting in a dilemma for the content providers who seek to satisfy both groups. Those providers, who wish to promote demand for the creative content their media products contain, strive to maximize the authorized distribution of their products, while avoiding content piracy and other forms of unauthorized access to the various media content.
One conventional approach adopted by media content providers to serve the interests of both consumers and content producers is to offer alternative versions of a particular content, and alternative presentation modes for that content, as separate commercial items. For example, to satisfy consumer demand for a variety of media content formats, a movie may now be sold concurrently as a VHS video cassette, a standard digital video disc (DVD), a high definition DVD (HD-DVD), and as a Blu-ray optical disc. To further satisfy consumer desire for a variety of presentation modes, an audio soundtrack from the movie may be recorded and distributed as a compact disc (CD), for example, while an entertainment game based on the movie may be provided as a video game. To maintain intellectual property control over those various media, however, each content format and presentation mode may be separately recorded, encrypted, and packaged. As a result, a consumer who desires to enjoy the content in more than one format or presentation mode may be required to purchase multiple versions of the same or similar creative content. Consequently, this conventional approach offers a less than optimal solution to satisfying the two sets of interests described.
Another conventional approach adopted by media providers in an attempt to secure the intellectual property interests of content producers is to distribute content in a single format, in a locked mode, accompanied by an activation code allowing an authorized user to unlock the content. Computer software applications are frequently distributed commercially in this way, as secure single format content provided on a computer readable medium, but inaccessible by a user unless the user also possesses the separate activation code, which may be provided as part of the product packaging, for example. The authorized user can unlock the content by submitting the activation code to the content provider, who may then prevent that code from being concurrently utilized by another user. As a result, the content provider, who remains largely powerless to prevent unauthorized physical distribution of the computer readable medium, may nevertheless prevent that activity from resulting in unauthorized access to the creative content recorded on the medium. While effective in protecting content producers by limiting unauthorized access to creative content, this approach does little or nothing to address the interests of content consumers who may desire access to creative content in a variety of formats on the same storage medium, or in alternative formats concurrently.
More recently, United States Patent Application 2007/0195685 by Read (“Read”), describes a solution in which a high density format version of a particular content is recorded on a media disc, the media disc being additionally partitioned to accommodate lower density format versions of the same content. According to the Read disclosure, a Blu-ray disc, for example, on which is recorded a movie formatted for playback on a Blu-ray player, may also contain another version of that same movie formatted for playback on a DVD player. Just as in the conventional approach, however, as an example, Read fails to address the continuing problem of providing consumers with access to interrelated media content having not only a variety of content formats, but a variety of presentation modes as well. As another example, the solution provided by Read incorporates only conventional digital rights management (DRM) schemes for restricting unauthorized distribution of the alternative formats provided on the media disc.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing media content enabling a consumer to access a particular desired content across a range of content formats and additionally providing access to supplemental content in alternative presentation modes, while concurrently limiting unauthorized access to the media content and its supplemental content.